Federal Appeals Court to Hear Climate Change Suit

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A federal three-judge panel has agreed to hear an appeal from a ruling that a group of Mississippi coastal landowners can sue energy and chemical companies on allegations that linked greenhouse gas emissions to Hurricane Katrina.

The lawsuit alleges that greenhouse gas emissions from energy and chemical companies contributed to global warming, caused sea levels to rise and added to the intensity of Hurricane Katrina. Filed by landowners in U.S. District Court in Gulfport in September 2005, the lawsuit had been dismissed in 2007 and reinstated in 2009.

The companies appealed the reinstatement.

A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments on May 1 in New Orleans.

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